Anica Sabo

Anica Sabo (1954, Serbia) earned her diploma (1980) and Master’s degree (1986) in composition at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, and finished two years of bassoon studies at the same institution. In 2007, she completed her PhD studies at the University of Arts in Belgrade, Department for Theory of Art and Media. She is currently a Full Professor at the Department for Music Theory of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade. Her activities encompass both compositional and theoretical work. As a composer, she mostly creates in the domain of chamber music. Lately, most of her inspiration comes from literary works. The focal points of her research in music theory and analyses are the questions of symmetry and musical form. An important place in her theoretical output is also reserved for Serbian music.

A smile in the dictionary (Nasmeh v slovarju/Osmeh u rečniku)

The composition A smile in the dictionary for narrator/violist and flute was created to the verses of the poems of two contemporary Slovenian poets Milan Deklev, Besedestrahniveč v slovarju (The word fear no longer exists in the dictionary) and Miroslav Košuta, Nasmeh v temi (A smile in the darkness). By a dynamic alternation of words, the poems talk about doubts, suspicions, dilemmas, fear in a concise manner. The composition activates those parts of the poems which succinctly suggest confrontations of various kinds, as well as those which indicate the possibility of their reconciliation. Primarily, the violist/narrator has been entrusted with the task to dramatize the text. The flute section contains elements that support the dramatization but the sound of this instrument is basically directed at highlighting poetic moments. The relationship towards the ensemble and the treatment of all components of musical expression are the continuation of the search for the sound image which was initiated in the works created to the texts of contemporary Slovenian writers (especially Sanjališča). The motivation behind the composition was the release of a book of contemporary Slovenian literature which was translated into Serbian by a group of students from the Faculty of Philology under the mentorship of the Associate Prof Dr Maja Đukanović. The composition had its premiere in Kruševac within the project Zvuk reči (The sound of the words) organized by the National Council of the Slovenian ethnic minority in Serbia.